What are Mikimoto Pearls?

Apr 19, 2017

Mikimoto Pearls are the pearls of legend. The namesake behind the brand is Kokichi Mikimoto, who revolutionized the pearl industry when he patented the process for cultured pearls in 1916. Today, Kokichi Mikimoto is known in the pearl world as the King of Pearls, and his pearls live up to his name. The same process Mikimoto […]

Mikimoto Pearls are the pearls of legend. The namesake behind the brand is Kokichi Mikimoto, who revolutionized the pearl industry when he patented the process for cultured pearls in 1916.

Today, Kokichi Mikimoto is known in the pearl world as the King of Pearls, and his pearls live up to his name.

The same process Mikimoto patented back in 1916 is still used today around the world for most cultured pearls and Mikimoto pearls are simply the standard by which most other pearls are measured. The founder, Kokichi Mikimoto, once staged a public burning of pearls he felt were not up to the his standard, rather than see poor quality pearls on the market.

Mikimoto pearls rank in the top 5 percent of pearls sold worldwide and are the only pearls with an industry recognized rating system, ranking their pearls from A+ up to AAA rating.

When he was a young man, Akiko Mikimoto watched the oysters around his hometown in Japan harvested to near extinction by pearl divers looking for Akoya pearls. He began researching ways to cultivate pearls with a simple goal, of coaxing oysters to make a pearl on demand, or at least with just a little bit of manmade help. Mikimoto inserted seed pearls to simulate an irritant in the oyster, hoping the oyster would coat the pearl just like it did with other irritants that happened naturally. He tried seed pearls made from iron, to wood, to other mollusk shells.

Mikimoto ultimately succeeded only after many years and many failures when, on the brink of financial ruin, his oyster crops suffered another disastrous season, this time from disease. But as he was sorting through his oysters, he opened on to find what he was looking for: one perfect Akoya pearl. Taking that success, he built a pearl empire.

“My Dream is to adorn the necks of women around the world with pearls,” he said.

Today his name is synonymous with beautiful pearls.

Looking at a Mikimoto pearl next to another pearl is one of the best ways to judge these pearls. Side by side, they are simply more lustrous than other pearls.

While the Mikimoto brand first began culturing Akoya pearls, today they offer a wide range of high end luxury pearls, including Akoya, Tahitian, South Sea, and Golden South Sea pearls.